Support Services and Web Seminars Contributed by EDUCAUSE

For the past decade, campuses in the United States have been offering comprehensive communications services in campus dorms that include high speed Internet, cable television, and telephone services (local line, long distance, and voice mail in some cases). With students migrating to other forms of personal communications such as cell phones and text messaging, campuses are reevaluating the need for telephone lines in the dorms. This panel will discuss the implementations at both Notre Dame and Texas A&M University. Included in the discussion will be student opinion polls, wireless alternatives, and E911 and other safety considerations.

In many cases, the development of IT infrastructure in support of university research enterprises has been left to find its own way. Researchers have often had develop their own computing, information, and networking resources, while central IT organizations have perhaps been most occupied with desktop and server support, Web applications, instructional systems support, and administrative systems responsibilities. Today, with mounting competitive pressures, growing regulatory responsibilities, and increasingly complex cost issues, a case can be made that campuses should also be actively engaged in planning how they want IT to support their research enterprises.

Who supports the technology needs of residential students? Does it matter if that service is provided by a group outside central IT, such as housing or academic computing? How much wireless is installed in residence halls, where is it, and why is it there? What key challenges face residential technology professionals today, and what are they preparing to face tomorrow? David Futey and Kevin Guidry, members of the ResNet Applied Research Group, will address these and other questions by presenting the key findings from the 2005 ResNet Survey, which represents data collected from more than 220 universities and colleges. This survey was the first attempt by members of the ResNet community to gather and analyze data that describe the technology infrastructure in and services provided to college and university residential communities.